Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has visited the families of Christians Martyrs of Tehran on the occasion of the New Year of the Gregorian calendar.

Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has visited the families of Christians Martyrs of Tehran on the occasion of the New Year of the Gregorian calendar.

The Mayor extended his congratulations to all Iranian Christians in St. Vartanants Church, at the heart of the capital.

Although a minority religious group in Iran, there are about 120,000 Christians, most of them Armenians, who are free to celebrate Christmas and practice their religion and rituals in public, unlike many countries in the region.

Though 90 percent of the world’s Christians, including Catholics, Protestants, and most followers of the Orthodox church, celebrate the Jesus Christ’s birth on December 25, Armenians celebrates the Christ’s birth on January 6. So Iranian Armenians celebrate it five days after the Gregorian New Year.